Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th, Let Freedom Ring

The 4th of July represents everything that this country stands for, freedoms, goodwill and hope.
It isn't really free though, we all have an obligation to work to make this country a better place for ALL people. We do have an obligation to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, one of those peoples being the elderly, the very young and the disabled. While looking at the statistics and the cases of doctors who have ripped off medicare by not providing the correct service to the elderly, or performing unnecessary procedures against others to line their own pockets, this is sad, and this demands our attention, a few of the horrendous cases listed below involve doctors taking advantage of the elderly, young kids, and even the mentally handicapped, we must stop fraudulent doctors from these practices, if you know of a doctor who is performing unnecessary procedures, or ripping off our system by over billing medicare, going into nursing homes and mistreating those there, get together the proof, turn them in, by doing so , you can even collect part of the recovered funds and help the unfortunate in doing so, help this country by keeping our health care cost down, saving taxpayers by stopping abuse of taxpayers monies, and keeping the quality of health care high. The Obama administration has promised to crack down on medical fraud, if you know of a doctor who is cheating the system and the patients, turn him in, here are some outrageous cases that have been caught....-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philip J. Gabriele, 44, and his wife, Marcella Gabriele, both of Granger, are accused of falsely and fraudulently diagnosing cataracts and other disorders in patients and performing unnecessary surgeries, according to a statement issued by assistant U.S. attorney Donald Schmid.
The indictment alleges that, as part of the fraud scheme, the defendants altered patient charts and records after the fact, in an effort to make it seem as if diagnoses were accurate and correct,
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/47925197.html
The Gabrieles were found dead in their home, an apparent murder, suicide, only days after a 15 count indictment was handed down, investigation had been ongoing for a couple of years and now it will never be known exactly how many unnecessary surgeries were performed on adults and children ,,, June 19,2009
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An ophthalmologist accused of conducting unnecessary eye surgery on mentally ill residents of adult homes in New York City surrendered to the authorities yesterday and was charged with health care fraud, officials said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/24/nyregion/24HOME.html

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Cataract Removal
In 1993, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research warned that many operations to remove a cataract, or clouded lens of the eye, are not necessary. In those cases, the clouding had probably reduced visual acuity, but not enough to bother the patient. Despite the warning, the number of cataract operations has continued to rise -- an increase that far outpaces the rise in the older population.
The best objective indicator that you might benefit from the surgery is having a cataract that reduces your visual acuity to 20/150 even with glasses. But subjective factors are more important: If the cataract does not hamper your daily activities, you don't need surgery, regardless of what any test shows.
If you suspect you have cataracts, you may want to avoid having your initial evaluation performed by an ophthalmologist whose practice consists mainly of cataract surgery -- one who works in a special cataract clinic, for example. Some evidence suggests that such doctors perform a greater proportion of cataract surgeries on minimally impaired eyes than other eye doctors do. (((( I WISH I had known this before going to Downing and McPeak Vision Centers ))))))))))

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